Posted on 04/15/2004 4:50:39 AM PDT by ovrtaxt
A holy war of sorts is heating up in a Detroit suburb, where members of the local Muslim community want loudspeakers on mosques to announce the Islamic call to prayer five times each day.
But the idea is running into opposition from other residents of Hamtramck, Mich., many of whom are Christian, who think the prayer calls as early as 6 a.m. and as late as 10 p.m. would be disruptive.
"When you call to prayer, you are proselytizing, and as a citizen of the United States I don't want to hear it," Bob Golen, 68, told the Detroit Free Press.
"It is not my God. My God is Jesus Christ," Caroline Zarski, 81, said. "I don't want this noise invading my home at 10 p.m."
The Al-Islah Islamic Center asked the city three months ago to alter its noise ordinance to allow the calls to prayer. In February, the council reportedly supported the change but sought a public hearing before making any change.
"We don't want to make it a big deal," said businessman Abdul Algazali, according to the Free Press. "It's a low-pitched voice. It's not going to wake up anybody."
City Council President Karen Majewski compared the call to prayer to bells ringing on Christian churches, though other residents were said to disagree at Tuesday's meeting.
Majewski says the loudspeaker measure is likely to pass at next week's meeting, and would subsequently take effect in late May.
"Petitions have circulated among mainly white and Christian members of the community for weeks asking the council not to amend the ordinance," said Councilman Scott Klein. "Both sides have issued threats of federal lawsuits based on the constitutionality of the ban or the removal of the ban."
There are five mosques in Hamtramck, and three others just over the border in Detroit.
On its website, the city says it provides "A Touch of THE WORLD In America," touting itself as "the home of the most varied ethnic mix of people and customs from around the world."
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I fear we are one teenager-dumped-by-his-girlfriend away from that event.
I suspect that the only reasons they haven't started yet is because American teens are well-fed, and because of Gameboy, X-Box, Playstation, etc.
That's the idea behind this ;don't kid yourself.
The constant Islamic call to prayer 5 times a day , 7 days a week will make the infidel so uncomfortable he will move out.
But who is going to buy in? Property values will fall and more afordable housing will be available for Allah's children who can live in an Islamic ghetto and not have to rub shoulders with the infidel. -Tom
Yep, the President already invites terrorist organizations (like CAIR) over to the WH to "celebrate" Ramadan, so who knows what lies in our future.
As one of our most disreputable Islamonazis here on Free Republic once said of Kosovo being Serbia (as stipulated in UN resolutions), "Not no mo'!"
Just don't be surprised if he doesn't refer to the Polish inhabitants being chased from their homes by the criminals as "simply moving to a nicer neighborhood," assuming for a second that he hates the Slavic Christian Poles half as much as he hates the Slavic Christian Serbs, of course.
IT WAS PASSED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE!
Hamtramck Residents To Hear Prayer Broadcasts
Issue Sparks Heated Debate Among Residents
POSTED: 9:13 am EDT April 21, 2004
UPDATED: 9:43 am EDT April 21, 2004
Hamtramck residents will soon be hearing a Muslim call to prayer five times a day following a unanimous vote by the City Council Tuesday night.
The issue of sending out the prayer on a loudspeaker in the city sparked a heated debate among residents.
"If you guys think about it, the Muslim call to prayer is actually a beautiful thing," an unidentified man who supported the issue said during the City Council meeting.
Some residents are opposed to the call to prayer, saying it gives state sponsorship of a religion and it lifts Islam above all other religions in Hamtramck, Local 4 reported.
"I would say that is a distortion," Hamtramck City Councilwoman Karen Majewski said. "We worked very hard to craft this ordinance in such a way that it would cover all means of religious expression."
Resident Maria Radtke called it "one big mess."
"There'll be no peace as far as I'm concerned," Radtke said.
Resident Bob Golen also opposes the call to prayer. He said he is a Christian and does not believe in the tenants of the Muslim faith.
Majewski said the ordinance will allow the city "a way to deal with all religions, not simply the Muslim call to prayer."
The councilwoman also said the amendment to the noise ordinance passed by the City Council "gives us the flexibility to adjust the number of speakers, the direction of the speakers, the level of loudness. So that will all depend on the community response, on the particular neighborhood that the mosque may be in, because we have several mosques, and the particularities of each case."
City Council members may have voted to allow the daily prayer, but they have not yet set a decibel level for the mosques. The council will make the decision at a meeting next week.
The calls are expected to begin in May with broadcasts between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
As for complaints of the noise pollution created by the call to prayer, Majewski said there are other noise issues because Hamtramck is an urban city.
"We have a lot of noise on our streets," Majewski said.
She said there is flexibility within the ordinance to deal with all of the noise problems such as cars, trains and noisy neighbors.
"This ordinance gives us a way, a mechanism, by which to deal with these complaints," Majewski said.
The store owners could hand out little ear plug carrying cases that go on key chains. They could place ads on the cases.
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